Ali Abbas Zafar’s neo-noir action thriller Bloody Daddy streaming on JioCinema justifies its run time of 121 minutes. The story revolves around Sumair (Shahid Kapoor), a Narcotics Control Bureau cop, who seizes a duffel bag from drug dealers containing cocaine worth Rs 50 crore. He gets stabbed, and blood trickles out of his body, a sign of things to come. The plot progresses in a hurry as Sumair attempts to free his abducted son, who is at the mercy of these drug dealers who want the bag back.
Stylishly shot and with well-choreographed action sequences, Bloody Daddy’s twisty plot keeps the viewer interested until the cop ultimately reunites with his son. Restless, gutsy and morally flawed, Kapoor’s cop holds the film together. He steps into the shoes of Sumair in the first sequence – and never steps out of it until the film ends. Bloody Daddy, in short, is a reminder that Kapoor is a fine actor whose talent has not been used fully as yet.
Kapoor, who is 42, will benefit from working in direct-to-digital projects in the post-OTT era. While Bloody Daddy’s theme, treatment and production values make one wonder whether it should have been a theatrical release, this is his second release on a streaming platform this year after Farzi, a crime thriller helmed and co-written by Raj & DK. Initially conceived as a film but later developed as a web series, the eight-episode series streaming on Amazon Prime centres around Sunny (Kapoor), an artist who starts making fake currency notes. A gripping thriller, Farzi gave him an opportunity to make a serious impact as an actor. He did that, and so did gifted actors like Vijay Sethupati and Kay Kay Menon in the supporting cast, resulting in one of the best web series produced in India.
TWENTY YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY
Some observers of Kapoor’s growth in the film industry might remember that the actor had made uncredited appearances as a dancer in Yash Chopra’s musical romance Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Subhash Ghai’s romantic drama Taal (1999).
The year 2023, in fact, is his 20th year in the business as an actor. He had debuted as a male lead in Ken Ghosh’s romantic comedy Ishk Vishk in 2023, which became commercially successful. He has experienced phases in his career when success has been disappointingly elusive. That said, he has been a long-distance runner, who has often delivered first-rate performances in well-scripted films with good direction.
There have been times when he hasn’t made much impact in successful films, one of them Abbas-Mustan’s thriller comedy 36 China Town (2006). In Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama Padmaavat (2018), the most successful film of his career, he played the Rajput king Maharawal Ratan Singh. Although he played his role reasonably well, he was overshadowed by Ranveer Singh, who played Sultan Allaudin Khilji, and Deepika Padukone, who played the gorgeous Rajput queen Padmavati.
He appeared as the male lead in Vivah (2006), a Sooraj Barjatya-helmed romantic drama of the classic Rajshri variety that gave him no scope for doing much as an actor. A commercial success, however, it added a much-needed hit to his tally.
FILMS WITH OFFBEAT STORIES
Kapoor is at his best in films with offbeat plots, provided they have some qualities that can engage the viewer. Playing a businessman, he is superb in Imtiaz Ali’s romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007), an unusual boy-meets-girl story in which his character’s chemistry with a garrulous Punjabi girl (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is the highlight.
He plays a pair of twins, one of whom stutters and the other lisps, in Vishal Bhardwaj’s brilliant crime drama Kaminey (2009), which reveals the maker’s admiration for filmmaking institutions like Quentin Tarantino and Coen Brothers. He is equally good as the student from Aligarh Muslim University, who returns to his native state during the Kashmir insurgency in the 1990s, in Bhardwaj’s action drama Haider (2014). Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night, Haider won several awards. Kapoor’s performance as the title character received its due quota of appreciation.
He is a cocaine addict and rock musician in Abhishek Chaubey’s much-acclaimed crime drama Udta Punjab (2016) about substance abuse in Punjab, which conveys an anti-drug message to the viewers.
He is solid as the title character in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s romantic drama Kabir Singh (2019), a film that has received ample criticism for glorifying misogyny. A medical doctor with anger issues, his Kabir has serious personality flaws. Kapoor played the character with self-assurance, making Kabir an unlikeable guy who can be despised but not ignored. The film is his biggest success among those in which he has played the solo male lead, a commercial verdict that must have surprised its many critics.
A strong script is the basic need for actors, who enjoy living different lives on the screen. Since OTT platforms are offering Kapoor more options to pick and choose from, he must be a happy man.
The author, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Among his books are ‘MSD: The Man, The Leader’, the bestselling biography of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, and the ‘Hall of Fame’ series of film star biographies. Views expressed are personal.
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